Process Monitoring & Controls
Have a critical process that demands accurate measurement of oxygen and/or carbon dioxide? Perhaps the process needs to be accurately controlled based on the measurement of either of these two gases. Alpha Omega Instruments has the solution.
See Products By Application
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Critical welding requires inert gas with no oxygen | Many welding applications require the use of inert gases that are free of oxygen. Excess oxygen promotes poor welds due to oxidation | Argon, Helium, N₂ | Trace or Percent |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measure CO2 and O2 in fermentors | Bio reactors frequently must be kept under tight control with respect to both oxygen and carbon dioxide | Modified Atmosphere | Percent O2 and Percent CO2 |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monitoring of Glove Box Atmospheres | Many experiments performed under controlled or inert atmospheres must be done under low oxygen conditions. | Argon, Nitrogen | Percent or Trace |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sick Building Syndrome | Carbon Dioxide is often measured as an indicator of the quality of the breathing air in offices, commercial establishments, parking garages, etc. | Breathing Air | Carbon Dioxide Range (0-5,000 ppm) |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hydrogen Production by Catalytic Partial Oxidation of Hydrocarbons | Hydrocarbons are reacted with steam over a catalyst to produce gas containing H2, which can be used as a synthesis gas or the H2 can be separated & purified. | H₂ | Trace | |
| Transportation of Bulk Industrial Gases | Bulk gases are transferred to tanker trucks or transported via pipeline for delivery to end users. | Argon, Hydrocarbons, H₂, Mixtures, Nitrogen, N₂, Silo Gas (CO₂, NO₂, NO) | Trace |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preserve oxygen sensitive materials | Monitor the percent oxygen in chambers and/or glove boxes that contain oxygen sensitive components. | Argon, Helium, H₂, N₂ | Percent |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing of latex and related chemicals | To determine O2 in the chemicals by spraying them into a nitrogen-free atmosphere and measuring the O2 content. | N₂ | Trace or Percent | |
| Inert gas blanketing of processes/reactor vessels and purging of chemicals | Many processes involve chemicals that will react with O2 contamination to have harmful effects on the end product. Inerting with N2 is usually required. | N₂ | Trace or Percent |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inert gas blanketing of stored raw materials and finished chemical products | Tanks, trucks and other storage vessels are filled with an inert gas to protect the stored chemicals from O2. | N₂ | Trace or Percent |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stack Gas Analysis | Measure efficiency of combustion process | Flue Gas | Percent |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Switch boxes and electrical enclosures that require back filling with SF6 | Excessive levels or oxygen can cause arcing and be a fore bearer of corrosion within transformers | SF6 | Trace |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammonia (NH3) production | H2 & N2 are combined 3:1 ratio to produce NH3. There are many sources of H2, including steam reforming of natural gas, partial oxidation, etc. | H₂, N₂ | Trace |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Determine optimum transmission parameters | Transmission of signals at different wavelengths are affected by the presence or absence of humidity and oxygen. | N₂ | Trace |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measurement of oxygen in landfill gases | Measurement of oxygen is used to help assess the quality of the landfill gases that are used to power incinerators and boilers | Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Methane, N₂ | Percent |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glove Box | Ensure gas used to back fill bulbs are devoid of oxygen. | Argon, Helium, N₂ | Trace |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MRI Installations | Monitor quality of breathing air to ensure that the cryogenic gases used to cool the MRI magnets don’t deplete the breathing air oxygen in confined spaces | Air | Percent 20.9% |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sintering | Powdered metal is pressed into shapes and heated to >2000 degrees F for hours in an inert atmosphere, to increase bulk density and other properties. | H₂, N₂ | Trace | |
| Specialty Welding | The welding parts are done under inert conditions using either nitrogen, argon, or helium gas to provide a protective atmosphere. | Argon, Helium, N₂ | Trace | |
| Bright Annealing | For certain steel alloying processes pure nitrogen atmospheres are required. So is the case in hot rolling mills. | H₂, N₂ | Trace | |
| Steel Production | Many experiments performed under controlled or inert atmospheres must be done under low oxygen conditions. | Argon, Nitrogen, N₂ | Percent and Trace |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waste Gas Monitoring at Nuclear Power Plants | Monitoring inlet and outlet gas from recombiner. Percent O2 and H2 are measured at inlet to ecombine- er. O2 in ppm is measured at outlet of recombiner. | Argon, Helium, H₂, N₂ | Trace | |
| Tritium Recovery | Research in separating tritium from deuterium, after the use of heavy water (D2O) in nuclear reactors. | Deuterium, Tritium | Trace |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tritium Recovery | Research in separating tritium from deuterium, after the use of heavy water (D2O) in nuclear reactors. | Deuterium, Tritium | Trace |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pipelines containing gas feedstocks such as natural gas | Gas producers and gas pipeline end users have specifications requiring low ppm O2 in natural gas. | Hydrocarbon feed-stocks, Natural Gas | Trace | |
| Pipelines containing gas feedstocks such as natural gas | Gas producers and gas pipeline end-users have specification requiring low ppm O2 in natural gas. | Hydrocarbon feed-stocks, Natural Gas | Trace |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Production of polyethylene, polypropylene, polyesters and other polymers | Feedstock polymerization reaction creates plastics that meet desired specifications. In certain processes N2 blankets prevent O2 contamination | Ethylene, N₂, Other, Propylene | Trace or Percent |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monitoring of Centrifuges | Drying of solvent-based pharmaceutical products often requires use of process centrifuges. To avoid flash fires, oxygen levels are kept under 2%. | N₂ | Percent |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UV/E-beam Curing | Electron Beam and/or UV curing of certain plastics requires the curing be done in a low oxygen environment. Excessive levels of oxygen adversely affect the curing and product spoilage increases. | N₂ | Trace or Percent |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power Plant Hydrogen-Cooled Generators | Hydrogen is an excellent cooling gas for turbine generators because it has a low viscosity and high thermal conductivity reducing friction & heat losses. | H₂ | Trace |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ensure the Quality of the Gas Generated | Pressure Swing Adsorption and Vacuum Swing Adsorption Systems often incorporate O2 monitors to help ensure gas quality. | Air | Percent |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CO2 Monitoring | Carbon dioxide is often measured as a process variable to indicate a completion or partial completion of chemical reactions. | Argon, Helium, H₂, N₂ | Trace or Percent | |
| Monitoring Oxygen In Confined Spaces | Monitor quality of breathing air to ensure that the cryogenic gases used in the labs don’t deplete the breathing air oxygen | N₂ | Percent |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annealing of Wafers | Silicon wafers are heat treated in an inert atmosphere, high temperature furnace. | Argon, Helium, H₂, Mixtures, N₂ | Trace |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Furnaces for production of ceramic components (sintering process) | Ceramic components are made from sintered materials which involve heat treating/bonding of powders to form a coherent shape. | N₂ | Trace or Percent |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measure precise levels of oxygen in gas cylinders | Analyzer is used to validate the concentration of oxygen in cylinders of specialty gases | Argon, etc., Helium, Nitrogen | Trace |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Production of nylon, orlon, and polyesters | Polymerization reaction. | H₂ | Trace |
| Application | Application Description | Gases of Concern | Range of Measurement | Recommended Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animal Recovery Chambers | Oxygen therapy is frequently used for pets recovering from surgery and/or disease | Air, Enriched Atmosphere | Percent |